The present invention relates to protective clothing to be worn to provide protection from a contaminated environment and more particularly relates to a laminated fabric for use in such clothing.
Various approaches have been taken to provide fabrics for protective clothing to be worn by military personnel and others to provide protection against chemicals such as chemical warfare agents. Spun-laced nonwoven protective fabrics have been impregnated with absorbant carbonized particles as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,748,065. Other known fabrics include quilted fabrics and multilayer materials incorporating woven or nonwoven activated carbon fabrics as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,769,144 and 4,513,047.
Activated carbon fabrics, referred to generally as "activated charcoal cloth", are generally effective in protective clothing to provide protection from chemical agents. However, activated charcoal cloth does not have sufficiently high durability for clothing to be used under harsh conditions such as those encountered in military use. Activated charcoal cloth has a propensity to break and develop holes causing the protective clothing to lose its effectiveness in protecting against chemical agents.